TEXT [Commentary]
I. Prologue on the Beginning of the Gospel (1:1-15)
A. John the Baptist Prepares the Way (1:1-8; cf. Matt 3:1-12; Luke 3:1-14)
1 This is the Good News about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God.[*] It began 2 just as the prophet Isaiah had written:
“Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
and he will prepare your way.[*]
3 He is a voice shouting in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the LORD’s coming!
Clear the road for him!’[*]”
4 This messenger was John the Baptist. He was in the wilderness and preached that people should be baptized to show that they had repented of their sins and turned to God to be forgiven. 5 All of Judea, including all the people of Jerusalem, went out to see and hear John. And when they confessed their sins, he baptized them in the Jordan River. 6 His clothes were woven from coarse camel hair, and he wore a leather belt around his waist. For food he ate locusts and wild honey.
7 John announced: “Someone is coming soon who is greater than I am—so much greater that I’m not even worthy to stoop down like a slave and untie the straps of his sandals. 8 I baptize you with[*] water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit!”
NOTES
1:1 Good News. We get our word “gospel” (BDAG 402-403) from this noun, euangelion [TG2098, ZG2295]. Mark narrates this special story of good news centered in the ministry of Jesus the Messiah (the Christ).
about Jesus the Messiah. The NLT correctly renders the objective genitive of the Gr. as “about.” In the second century, this expression became a shorthand way of referring to narrative accounts that described Jesus’ life and ministry, but it is probably not used in that technical way here. Mark is simply stating that this story is God’s good news about how the power of God’s coming kingdom and salvation manifested itself in and through Jesus the Christ, who is also the Son of God.
Son of God. There is debate as to whether or not this phrase is in the original text of Mark’s gospel. The phrase is missing in some important early witnesses such as 
. It is likely that in these cases the phrase was accidentally omitted due to similar endings in the abbreviated forms of the sacred names: ΕΥΑΓΓΕΛΙΟΥ 
. The last four words look similar because each is written as a nomen sacrum (divine title). The first corrector of Codex Sinaiticus (a) added before it left the scriptorium. However, not all ancient MSS wrote the word “Son” as the nomen sacrum , so this is not a conclusive argument (see Comfort 2007:[Mark 1:1]). It is more likely that “Son of God” was accidentally dropped than that a copyist expanded the introductory title, especially since the major MSS of B, D, and W support the reading (Metzger 1971:73). The title appears at a few key points in Mark (1:11; 15:39), pointing to the unique, intimate relationship the messianic Jesus had with the Father. Witherington (2001:69) compares this beginning of Mark to the Priene inscription about Caesar Octavian from 9 BC, which also uses the term “good news” and speaks of his birth as “the birthday of the god [that] was for the world the beginning of his good news.” This is “the epiphany or advent of a deity” (Witherington 2001:70). Mark’s gospel is about a person who makes a similar yet distinct claim to deity, a divine figure different from those Mark’s Gentile audience may have been accustomed to hearing about.
1:2 the prophet Isaiah. The passage names Isaiah in the introductory formula and cites wording from Exod 23:20, Mal 3:1, and Isa 40:3. Malachi 3 speaks of a prophet to come like Elijah (also 4:5-6), while Exod 23 points to a messenger (lit., “angel”) who leads the way. After the citation, Mark comments only on the portion from Isaiah that describes activity “in the wilderness,” which explains his introductory formula. This is the only OT citation made by the narrator in this Gospel (Garland 1996:43; the other OT citations in this Gospel are made by Jesus). The point is that the preparation for God starts in the wilderness, as Mark 1:4 makes clear, not that John is a voice crying in the wilderness, as the text is often read (Witherington 2001:72).
1:5 Jordan River. The ministry of John the Baptist is traditionally associated with a location south of Jericho near the Wadi-el-Kelt (Guelich 1989:20). The lower Jordan valley was a wilderness and Elijah is also associated with this area (2 Kgs 2:6-14; also Elisha in 2 Kgs 5:8-14). Although Guelich is hesitant to make connections between John and Elijah, it appears that an overlap is likely at a few points in the text, as John’s clothing also recalls Elijah’s (2 Kgs 1:8, LXX).
1:7 untie the straps of his sandals. An important cultural detail; in later Judaism, untying the thong of someone’s sandal was considered too menial a task for a Jewish slave to perform (Mekilta Exodus 21.2; b. Ketubbot 96a). If such an understanding goes back to John’s time, then John was saying that the One to come is so great that John is not worthy even to perform the most menial of tasks for him. Thus, by comparison he is less than a slave. This kind of humility appears in John’s Gospel (John 3:27-30). The NLT’s addition of his not being worthy “even to stoop down like a slave” brings out this nuance.
1:8 he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. This allusion to baptism is associated with the arrival of the eschaton in the OT (Isa 35:1-10; 44:3; Ezek 11:19; 36:26-27; 37:14; Joel 2:28-29 [3:1-2]). God’s decisive act on behalf of humanity was announced as approaching in the baptizing ministry of the Messiah. This is why cleansing (water baptism) and repentance (what that cleansing represents) were part of John’s ministry of preparation (1:4). Participation in John’s baptism showed a readiness to receive the greater baptism that the coming One would bring. Preparation for forgiveness of sins leads to forgiveness when the greater One to whom John pointed is embraced. In OT thinking, when someone is cleansed and forgiven, God can indwell that person with the presence of his Spirit (Ezek 36:25-27). This summarizes Mark’s gospel: cleansing, forgiveness, and the intimate divine presence all come through the Messiah to those who, in faith, embrace repentance and reorientation in their lives. Mark will mention the Spirit only a few more times in his gospel—in connection with Jesus’ authority over demons (3:22, 29-30), the Spirit’s work through a writer of Scripture (12:36), and the Spirit’s speaking through persecuted believers (13:11).
COMMENTARY [Text]
The opening of Mark’s Gospel contains a title, an appeal to Scripture, and the description of a prophetic figure, John the Baptist, whose calling was to announce the arrival of Jesus the Christ, the key figure in God’s plan. Jesus is described as Messiah and Son of God, two major titles that highlight Jesus’ uniqueness. “Messiah” signifies his role as the powerful deliverer who rules over the Kingdom and administers the hope, promise, and judgment of God (Cranfield 1959:35). “Son of God” underscores the unique relationship of this regal figure with God. Mark’s Gospel will explain his identity as Son as it unfolds.
It is important to read a Gospel as a developing story. Some of what Mark means becomes clear as this theological narrative unfolds, from its beginning to its turning point in the passion and resurrection. Much as a mystery novel develops its various dimensions, the Gospel gains momentum as it portrays Jesus as the Messiah, Son of God. It is important to distinguish between what readers know with the help of Mark’s prologue and what the characters within Mark’s story knew (Witherington 2001:79). They must learn who Jesus is. Mark’s narrative shows how this took place and the different reactions that revelation produced. This key point of the narrative is often lost on readers who have come to understand the whole story ahead of time. As Witherington (2001:79) says, “Seeing the narrative with the benefit of hindsight is a wonderful thing.” Even so, keeping an eye on how the narrative develops through the experience of its characters is part of a careful reading. The Gospel narrative works upon its readers on more than one level at once.
Taking into account the verses immediately following this section, we see that in 1:1-13 Mark begins his narrative with a series of events orchestrated by God, foreshadowing for his readers where the whole story is headed (Garland 1996:42). God speaks about his plan from Scripture in 1:2-3. God speaks directly to Jesus from heaven to underscore Jesus’ uniqueness in 1:11. The passage in 1:12-13 shows that Jesus was so important that an opponent from the spirit world would try to stop him, as Satan tested Jesus in the wilderness. This “behind the scenes” introduction to the cosmic dimensions of the story underscores Jesus’ importance for Mark’s readers. Only after this introduction does the story of Jesus’ actual ministry begin, showing how people were confronted with who Jesus was. This heavenly vantage point dominates Mark’s prologue in a way that is distinct from how most of the rest of the Gospel gradually unveils its story (Hooker 1991:31). Mark thus sets the stage with his prologue much as John’s prologue does for his Gospel (John 1:1-18).
The story begins with God’s plan as introduced in Scripture, especially in the prophets’ predictions of a great day of deliverance, a new day that was being announced as present through a ministry taking place in the desert. Mark highlights Isaiah, but the citation he presents is actually a composite of Exodus 23:20; Malachi 3:1, with its messenger language; and the call for preparation from Isaiah 40:3. John’s ministry prepared “the way” for the Lord’s coming, like laying a red carpet as all creation was leveled for his entry and hearts were opened to watch for his arrival. The importance of John’s ministry in the wilderness is affirmed in the citation and in Mark’s exposition of the fulfillment of the passage in 1:4. Israel entered into the promise in the wilderness (Josh 1:11), and it was a destination for a person fleeing from sin (2 Macc 5:27; Martyrdom of Isaiah 2:7-11; 1QS 8:12-16; Garland 1996:52-53). Some anticipated that God would launch his great assault on evil from the wilderness (Isa 40:1-11, a “new exodus” deliverance; 1QM 1:2-3). The importance of the way of God is highlighted in the interplay between the “prepare your way” in 1:2 and “prepare the way for the Lord’s coming” in 1:3. Preparing the way for the Lord’s coming meant being ready to walk in the way he would announce, a way that had already been announced in Scripture.
John the Baptist appeared, just as God had said through Isaiah and others, in the wilderness. Israel came through the wilderness to enter the new land, and now, from the wilderness God announced a plan for another exodus to deliver his people. John was called to deliver a preparatory message; it involved active participation in a rite that signified acceptance and identification with this call. That rite was a cleansing baptism of repentance (the NLT says that the act showed that they had turned to God to “receive forgiveness of sins”). The cleansing rite was preparatory to their reception of forgiveness.
This sequence is made clear when Jesus is baptized and then the Spirit descends on him, so the point was not a “baptism of repentance on the basis of forgiveness of sins.” This recognition of need constitutes the “turning” that is so basic to repentance and entrance into a faith relationship with God. (In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word meaning “to turn” was often used to signify repentance; Jer 4:28; 18:8; Jonah 3:9-10; TDNT 4:989-992). The real cleansing and forgiveness would be supplied by Jesus’ future work. Forgiveness refers to release from sin, which is often understood as a debt incurred by an act, and here a debt that includes guilt and punishment (3:29; Acts 2:38; Eph 1:7; Heb 9:22). This release from debt was part of what God announced through John as preparatory “good news.” Those who were ready for it participated in John’s baptism, confessing their sins and thereby recognizing their need of the cleansing the baptism represented. This rite was so central to John’s work that Mark literally calls him “John the baptizer” in 1:4, using a participle to make the point. He was the one “who is baptizing.”
John attracted a great crowd from Judea and Jerusalem that journeyed out to the southern Jordan River area to hear him. John lived as an ascetic to show his total dependence on God. John was like Elijah at certain points of his ministry (2 Kgs 1:8), a connection that Jesus makes explicit in Mark 9:11-13. It was believed that Elijah would return before the Day of the Lord as a signal that God was about to deliver Israel (Mal 3:1-2; 4:5-6; Sir 48:10).
John’s ministry was not just about the arrival of God’s promised period of fresh activity, but also about the one who would be central to it. There was “someone . . . coming soon who is greater [mightier] than I.” Despite all the prophetic airs surrounding John the Baptist, he was nothing in comparison to the one coming after him. The difference was so great that this prophet saw himself as more lowly than the most menial slave, not even worthy to untie the sandal thong of “the one to come.” In b. Ketubbot 96a, R. Joshua b. Levi states that “all service that a slave must render to his master a student must render to his teacher, except untying his shoe” (Strack-Billerbeck 1922.1:121). John said that he was not worthy to perform this most humble of tasks for the One to come.
If John was a prophet, then how much greater was the One to come than a prophet? John explained that the coming One would not baptize with a mere symbol as he did. Rather, this greater One would bring the promised Spirit of God (Ezek 36:25-27; Isa 4:4, with an image of fire, which appears in the parallels of Matt 3:11 and Luke 3:16), the sign of God’s presence and of the new day God would bring (1QS 4:20-21). What John could only represent in a rite, Jesus performed.
The Gospel is about the new life God gives through Jesus, who brought the divinely promised baptism of the Spirit. Jesus was clearly mightier than John and made the prophet pale by comparison. The cleansing of people’s lives cleared the way for God’s powerful presence in the Spirit. The good news of the One to come was about the forgiveness of sins that follows repentance and makes it possible to enter into fellowship and life with God by the presence of the promised Spirit within those who are cleansed.